Sudden Emergence

Because Yang Zhen'er's question was specific, Xia Libing didn't give a vague or evasive answer. After thinking for a moment, she said, "Xiang Kun's mother is very cheerful, warm, quick-witted, and good at observation and association; Xiang Kun's father is relatively introverted and more stable, but he is a good listener and can consider things from other people's perspectives. They are both easy to get along with. If you two Xiang Kun's family, Xiang Kun's mother would get along better with your cousin, but she would secretly prefer Sister Nana."

Yang Zhen'er's eyes widened, and she asked in surprise, "Why do you get along better with me and prefer Nana? It doesn't make sense."

Tang Baona and Yang Zhen'er were sitting on the same bed. Upon hearing this, she immediately leaned over, rested her chin on her friend's shoulder, and said in a fake voice, "Of course it's because I'm cuter!"

"Go away! Lao Xia and I are having a serious discussion here, don't try to act cute!" Yang Zhen'er pushed Tang Baona's head to the side and pushed her glasses from her eyes to her chin, causing her to cry out and frantically try to adjust them.

Xia Libing stated objectively, "Because Xiang Kun's mother will internally view the single women Xiang Kun brings home as 'daughters-in-law'."

The room fell silent immediately after those words were spoken. Tang Baona, who had adjusted her glasses, looked stunned, and Yang Zhen'er's mouth formed an "O" shape.

Even Xiang Kun door couldn't help but smile wryly when he heard this.

Lao Xia... he's still... so direct.

After about ten seconds, Yang Zhen'er coughed once, and then said casually, "I can understand that. Nana does have the qualities of a 'daughter-in-law.' If I were a mother-in-law, I would also choose Nana as my daughter-in-law."

Tang Baona was initially a little uncomfortable with this topic and didn't know what to say. Her cheeks felt inexplicably hot, but upon hearing Yang Zhen'er's words, she couldn't help but burst out laughing. She pinched Yang Zhen'er's waist and said, "What 'daughter-in-law' temperament... what kind of temperament is this? Explain it to me properly! And the mother-in-law is the woman's mother, the mother-in-law is the man's mother!"

"Wow, Nana, you're so experienced! You know so much! No wonder you're more suitable to be my daughter-in-law than I am!" Yang Zhen'er said with a mischievous smile.

"Experience my foot! I'll kick you to death!"

"Stop, stop, stop! I'm going to fall off the bed! A gentleman uses his hands, not his feet!"

After laughing and joking for a while, Yang Zhen'er climbed back onto the bed from the floor and said to Xia Libing, "Oh right, we're not finished yet, Lao Xia, what about Xiang Kun? Have you discovered any secrets about Xiang Kun? Have you noticed that he's changed a lot in the few months since we met?" As she spoke, she recounted the process of analyzing things with Tang Baona on Valentine's Day.

After she finished speaking, Xia Libing said, "Xiang Kun's daily routine is indeed irregular, quite different from that of ordinary people; his eating habits are also different from ordinary people, but very regular, which he figured out himself based on his own lifestyle and routine; he has a strong interest in some rare or peculiar creatures, and the breeding laboratory he wants to set up in Chongyun Village is also related to this; he likes to exercise, to temper his body and will, and he likes to think about some very novel questions."

"A very novel question? Like what? It's not like how to make rabbit meat taste like beef, or how to make chicken taste like rabbit meat, is it?" Yang Zhen'er laughed.

Xia Libing said, "For example, the basic composition of matter, the world beneath elementary particles and its connection to four-dimensional space, the relationship between human perception and magnetic fields, the movement of water molecules, the essence of dreams..."

Yang Zhen'er listened in a daze, muttering, "No wonder you and Chef Xiang had so much to talk about."

Tang Baona also said, "Why does Xiang Kun think about so many things? This isn't his area of expertise, is it? He also has to make games and research restaurants. No wonder he's gone bald from working so hard." As she spoke, she couldn't help but laugh.

Xiang Kun next door, scratched his head helplessly, marveling at how well Lao Xia understood his two older sisters. She knew their thought processes and priorities perfectly, answered their questions directly with the truth, and even guided them to take her words for granted.

Xiang Kun stood by the window, listening to the conversation and laughter of the three girls next door, while pondering what kind of developmental abilities "Little Apple" would have due to her sensitivity to water, and how that would in turn lead to the derivative expansion of his "Super-Sensing Item System".

Unbeknownst to him, the breathing of the three girls next door had gradually become steady, indicating that they had all fallen asleep, and Xiang Kun gradually entered a very peaceful and tranquil state as well.

Suddenly, Xiang Kun snapped out of his peaceful and calm state and realized that this state was not normal.

It wasn't that he sensed any danger or any specific sensory anomaly, but rather that this state rarely occurred after his mutation.

He couldn't have entered such a peaceful state without sufficient control over his surroundings and potential variables.

After mutation, no matter how much his senses evolve, how much external information he acquires, or how confident he is in his judgment, he will constantly seek more information and try to grasp more variables.

Even if a sixth sense is evolved, this instinct to endlessly explore perceptual information will not disappear.

But his state and feeling just now were as if he had completely taken control of the surrounding environment, that everything was under his command, hence his peace and tranquility.

This is unreasonable.

He wasn't focused on gathering information about his surroundings just now. His main focus was on thinking about "Little Apple's " perception of water and the expansion of its water-related abilities. Part of his attention was also on determining the sleeping status of the three people next door. He relied on instinct to gather and judge information about his surroundings.

Xiang Kun began to review his state just now, analyzing every detail, trying to find the reason for his feeling.

Is it because of Lao Xia, Nana, Zhen'er next door?

Indeed, the three girls next door were all friends he made after his mutation, and their relationship with him was extraordinary. Lao Xia was the only one who knew the secret of his mutation.

The problem is that this has happened more than once; it happened before the Lunar New Year in Tongshi Town and yesterday in Star City.

Or is it because there's something special about this place?

Xiang Kun entered a "Hyper-Sensory State" again, carefully discerning the information through his cognition, but found nothing unusual.

After repeatedly recalling his memories and deducing the reason, Xiang Kun finally found the cause after more than ten minutes:

Perhaps because he was simultaneously sensing the sleeping state of Lao Xia and the others next door, while his instincts were unconsciously gathering sensory information from his surroundings, his perception became integrated with the environment after collecting a certain amount of information. The subject of his sensory information was no longer Xiang Kun himself, but the three girls next door.

Although his perception improved significantly after consuming the "Mutated Parasite," and his understanding of his sixth sense became clearer, coupled with the qualitative leap he experienced after gaining the ability to perceive and control water in Star City, he certainly wouldn't have this peaceful and stable feeling if his perception was still centered around himself.

Because, in essence, the greatest threat and uncertainty to him in his subconscious comes from himself. Unless he understands the mechanism and cause of his mutation, he cannot achieve complete peace of mind.

Thinking about it this way, it's actually quite normal. He was instinctively observing the surroundings for the three girls next door, and because of his presence, he felt that the three girls were in a very safe environment, which led to that calm and peaceful state of mind.

However, when Xiang Kun was analyzing his own state, he thought about the difference in the ease or difficulty of developing his own abilities compared to Lao Xia, Little Chubby Girl, and "Little Apple" based on the "Super-Sensing Item System".

Even for Lao Xia, who had the deepest understanding of the origins of abilities and the greatest desire to explore their principles, "developing" his ability was still much easier than for Xiang Kun.

Because unlike Xiang Kun, they don't need to figure out exactly how a certain ability is achieved when "developing" a new ability.

Xiang Kun then had an idea: if, when studying his own abilities, he didn't focus on his existing abilities, but instead "designed" a new ability derived from his existing ones, and then imagined it and tried to use his own abilities to realize it, perhaps he could develop and use the ability more easily?

In the past, even if he had this idea, it would have been difficult to realize. But now, under the "Parasitizing Everything" application mode, he might be able to abstract the "Super-Sensing Item System" into a whole, and "parasitize" it, "parasitizing" himself, thereby calling upon his abilities to expand.

Thinking it through and acting on it, Xiang Kun directly tried out the "Fantasy Manifestation" ability developed by Lao Xia.

Although all the abilities "developed" by Lao Xia, Little Chubby Girl, and "Little Apple" ultimately point to Xiang Kun through the "Super-Sensing Item System," Xiang Kun can also obtain the abilities they "develop" and can use.

However, at present, he can only manifest what Lao Xia can manifest, and he cannot develop the ability to manifest what Lao Xia cannot manifest. Therefore, everything depends on Lao Xia creating projections in his dreams and manifesting them in reality, so that he can then possess the ability to manifest the relevant items.

At this moment, Xiang Kun wanted to try something that Lao Xia had never "manifested."

If anyone else saw Xiang Kun at this moment, they would find him standing in the hotel room with his arms hanging down, staring straight ahead, motionless, as if petrified, not even blinking.

Time passed second by second, Xiang Kun remained motionless. However, dozens of tiny objects floated up around him. If you looked closely, you would find that these tiny objects were either tungsten steel beads or one-yuan Coin.

At this moment, they were like escort aircraft for Xiang Kun's "main ship," hovering around him.

Suddenly, the light in the room dimmed, but if someone went inside and stared intently at each individual light source, they would find that none of the lights changed during this process, as if the air in the room had been covered by a veil, obstructing the spread of light.

Noises from outside the room, or the sounds of the air conditioner and the bathroom ventilation system, seemed to be instantly muted and disappeared.

The next instant, dozens of "Super-Linked Object" around Xiang Kun suddenly "exploded" outwards, but just before they were about to touch the obstacle, they suddenly stopped, then rapidly contracted towards Xiang Kun, and then began to spin around him.

Xiang Kun suddenly stretched out his right hand, palm up, and a Coin appeared suddenly in his palm as if summoned.

The Coin looked no different from an ordinary Coin, but Xiang Kun knew it was no ordinary Coin —it was a Coin he had conjured through "Fantasy Manifestation."

Moreover, this Coin is very different from the things that Lao Xia manifests— Lao Xia has never "manifested" Coin.

This "manifest object"... is quite extraordinary.

However, it only lasted a very short time, less than a second, and Xiang Kun could even flip it over, it had already disappeared from his palm.

But the instant it disappeared, Xia Libing, Tang Baona, Yang Zhen'er next door, as well as all the guests and staff of the hotel, were awakened from their sleep. They seemed to have heard a loud noise, but when they opened their eyes, they felt that the sound was very unreal.

Even the front desk staff and security guards on duty in the hotel lobby, as well as some guests who were still awake in their rooms, looked around blankly, trying to find the source of the sound. But after searching for a while, they could only conclude that they might be hallucinating, shook their heads, and stopped paying attention.

Tang Baona, who was being held down by Yang Zhen'er's arms and legs, nudged her friend and asked somewhat dazedly, "Did it thunder?"

"Huh?" Yang Zhen'er rubbed her eyes and turned to look at Xia Libing, who had also opened his eyes on the other bed. "Lao Xia, did it thunder?"

Lao Xia looked at her. "No, go to sleep."

"Oh..." Yang Zhen'er turned around, hugged Tang Baona tightly, buried her head in Tang Baona's chest, and muttered, "Lao Xia is so annoying."

Tang Baona did not respond, because she had already fallen asleep again when Yang Zhen'er turned around.

Xia Libing didn't fall asleep immediately; she stared at the walls of the room, lost in thought.

Xiang Kun, separated by a wall, looked down at the beads and Coin scattered on the hotel carpet, adjusted his glasses, and narrowed his eyes. The success of this attempt was somewhat unexpected.

Two weeks later, on March 4th, most parts of the country were experiencing continuous rain, including Tongshi Town and Wushu Mountain area in northern Jianzhou.

Tomorrow is the Awakening of Insects, one of the 24 solar terms, a time when temperatures rise and rainfall increases. This rain won't stop anytime soon.

This kind of weather, with its rumbling spring thunder and abundant moisture, is naturally someone's favorite.

In a villa area near Wushu Mountain, Zhou Rui, who had just returned a few days ago, was lying on the sofa on the first floor of the villa where his team was staying, leisurely watching videos on his tablet.

After watching for a while, he suddenly jumped up from the sofa, moved to the tea table by the window on the other side, and said to Mi Qiao, Zhengyi School was looking at her laptop and drinking coffee, "The restaurant that the streamer recommended looks pretty good, and it looks delicious. I checked, and the restaurant is in Tongshi Town, not far from here. It only takes a few tens of minutes to drive there. How about we go there for lunch? Anyway, we're on a semi-holiday now and have nothing to do."

Mi Qiao glanced at the tablet Zhou Rui handed her; it was playing a video of a food vlogger reviewing a restaurant.

It appears to be a pre-recorded video, not a live stream.

She wasn't interested in these internet celebrities or livestreamers, shaking her head and saying, "These videos are probably just something the restaurant hired to make; the food probably isn't that good. Besides, it's raining, and I don't want to go out."

"With Lao Gao driving, what's there to be afraid of in the rain? I don't know if the restaurant hired this streamer, but judging from his performance, it really tastes delicious. If this is acting, he could win an Oscar. Why be a streamer? I just got hungry watching him eat. Look... this part." Zhou Rui said, pulling back the video.

"... This time I came to Tongshi Town in Jianzhou City, Haixi Province. Not many people have probably heard of Tongshi Town, but it's not far from Wushu Mountain, a national 5A-level scenic area! I mainly came here for tourism, and then casually looked for some good food. This 'Youlong Restaurant' is actually run by the Bilibili UP master 'Youlong Teases Rabbits'. You all probably know this UP master; he specializes in teaching people how to cook rabbit meat. Not only are his dishes excellent, but his videos are also like action movies. I've contacted him a bit via WeChat before, and he told me his restaurant had just opened after renovations and hoped I would try it. Well, I came today. But I didn't tell him I was coming; we'll sneak over and eat as ordinary customers to see how good it really is..." The chubby, smiling male streamer introduced the restaurant as he walked towards it.

Seeing this, Mi Qiao shook his head. "They must have arranged it with the shop owner."

"I pulled too far... Keep watching, watch him eat," Zhou Rui quickly said.